# sexual
## English
### Etymology

From Latin sexuālis, from sexus (“sex”), equivalent to sex +‎ -ual.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈsɛk.ʃuː.əl/, /ˈsɛk.sju.əl/
* (US) IPA: /ˈsɛk.ʃu.əl/, /ˈsɛk.ʃəl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛkʃuːəl
* Hyphenation: sex‧ual

### Adjective

sexual (comparative more sexual, superlative most sexual)
* Arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes. [from 17th c.]
    Women face sexual discrimination in the workplace.
* (biology) Capable of sexual reproduction; sexed, sexuate. [from 19th c.]
* Pertaining to sexual intercourse or other intimate physical contact. [from 18th c.]
    Giving oral sex is my favorite sexual act.
** 2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools […] as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
* Characterised by sexual feelings or behaviour; possessing sexuality. [from 19th c.]
    She's a very sexual woman.
** 1994, Purity & passion, →ISBN, page 67:We don't often think of Jesus as a sexual person, but He certainly was not asexual. He was not just God on earth. He was fully human and […] He was sexual, single, and celibate.
* Pertaining to sexuality as a cultural phenomenon; relating to sexual behaviour or conduct. [from 19th c.]
    a sexual innuendo
    one's sexual preferences
* (LGBTQ, of a person, rare) Experiencing sexual attraction; not asexual.
    Synonym: allosexual
** 2016, Kyell Gold, Black Angel, Kyell Gold, →ISBN:[…] “You know, there are asexuals with sexual partners.” His ears flicked, and he grinned. “There's things both of us can try to do […] ”
** 2017, T. T. Monday, Double Switch, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, →ISBN, page 98:Izzy tells me that at her high school the most useful distinction is not between heterosexuals and homosexuals but between those who are sexual and those who are not. The abstainers call themselves “aces,” short for “asexuals.”
* (obsolete) Pertaining to the female sex. [17th–19th c.]
    Synonym: feminine
** 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Observations on the State of Degradation to which Woman is Reduced by Various Causes”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC, page 112:[T]he inquiry is whether she have reason or not. If she have, which, for a moment, I will take for granted, she was not created merely to be the solace of man, and the sexual should not destroy the human character.

#### Derived terms

* androsexual
* antisexual
* asexual
* autosexual
* bisexual
* chemosexual
* cissexual
* contrasexual
* cosexual
* cybersexual
* demisexual
* ecosexual
* ephebosexual
* erotosexual
* esexual
* eusexual
* finsexual
* flexisexual
* genetic sexual attraction
* gray-sexual
* graysexual
* gynesexual
* have sexual relations
* heterosexual
* hobosexual
* homosexual
* hypersexual
* hyposexual
* intersexual
* intrasexual
* isosexual
* malsexual
* matrisexual
* minsexual
* monosexual
* multisexual
* necrosexual
* ninsexual
* non-sexual
* nonsexual
* objectum-sexual
* omnisexual
* orthosexual
* other-sexual
* pansexual
* pan-sexual
* parasexual
* patrisexual
* pedosexual
* perisexual
* persistent sexual arousal syndrome
* plurisexual
* polysexual
* pomosexual
* pornosexual
* postsexual
* presexual
* protosexual
* pseudosexual
* psychosexual
* quasisexual
* robosexual
* sapiosexual
* schizosexual
* sextual
* sexual abuse
* sexual act
* sexual anorexia
* sexual anorexic
* sexual appetite
* sexual assault
* sexual cannibalism
* sexual capital
* sexual complex
* sexual congress
* sexual dichromatism
* sexual dichronism
* sexual dimorphism
* sexual diversity
* sexual division of labour
* sexual dysfunction
* sexual education
* sexual favor
* sexual favour
* sexual fraternization
* sexual harassment
* sexual headache
* sexual identity
* sexual intercourse
* sexual inversion
* sexualism
* sexualist
* sexualistic
* sexuality
* sexualization
* sexualize
* sexual literacy
* sexually
* sexual majority
* sexual marketplace
* sexual market value
* sexual maturity
* sexual method
* sexual mimicry
* sexual minority
* sexual misconduct
* sexualness
* sexualogy
* sexual orientation
* sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts
* sexual orientation change efforts
* sexual partner
* sexual play
* sexual politics
* sexual predator
* sexual preference
* sexual reassignment
* sexual relation
* sexual relations
* sexual reproduction
* sexual revolution
* sexual selection
* sexual slavery
* sexual tension
* sexual union
* sexual violence
* sociosexual
* subsexual
* supersexual
* suprasexual
* transsexual
* trisexual
* ubersexual
* unisexual
* unsexual
* urethrosexual
* urinosexual
* vegansexual
* xenosexual
* zoosexual

#### Related terms

* sex

#### Descendants

* Japanese: セクシャル (sekusharu)

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* See also Thesaurus:copulation

### Noun

sexual (plural sexuals)
* (biology) A species which reproduces by sexual rather than asexual reproduction, or a member of such a species.
    Synonym: eusexual
    Antonym: asexual
* (LGBTQ) A person who experiences sexual attraction, a person who has interest in or desire for sex (especially as contrasted with an asexual).
    Synonym: allosexual
    Antonym: asexual
** 2012, Issues in Sexuality and Sexual Behavior Research: 2011 Edition, ScholarlyEditions, →ISBN:The findings suggest that asexuality is best conceptualized as a lack of sexual attraction; however, asexuals varied greatly in their experience of sexual response and behavior. Asexuals partnered with sexuals acknowledged having to 'negotiate' sexual activity.
** 2015, Mark Carrigan, Kristina Gupta, Todd G. Morrison, Asexuality and Sexual Normativity: An Anthology, Routledge, →ISBN, page 11:In this article we use absence of sexual attraction to others as a definition but recognise that this definition is contested. […] [A survey] was also advertised online (without explicitly mentioning asexuality in the advert), thus aiming to reach a mixture of asexuals and sexuals.

#### Further reading

* “sexual”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “sexual”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* aluxes

## Asturian
### Etymology

From Latin sexuālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sekˈswal/ [sekˈswal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: se‧xual

### Adjective

sexual (epicene, plural sexuales)
* sexual

#### Related terms

* sexu

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sexuālis. First attested in 1839.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [sək.suˈal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [sek.suˈal]

### Adjective

sexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural sexuals)
* sexual

#### Derived terms

* assetjament sexual
* orientació sexual
* sexualitat
* sexualment

#### Related terms

* sexe

### References

* ↑ “sexual”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

### Further reading

* “sexual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “sexual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “sexual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Etymology

From Latin sexuālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛksuˈal/ [s̺ɛk.s̺uˈɑɫ]
* Rhymes: -al
* Hyphenation: se‧xu‧al

### Adjective

sexual m or f (plural sexuais)
* sexual

#### Derived terms

* sexualidade
* sexualmente

#### Related terms

* sexo

### Further reading

* “sexual”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sexuālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /zɛksuˈaːl/, /sɛksuˈaːl/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: se‧xu‧al

### Adjective

sexual (strong nominative masculine singular sexualer, comparative sexualer, superlative am sexualsten)
* (uncommon) sexual

#### Derived terms

* sexualisieren

#### Related terms

* sexuell

### Further reading

* “sexual” in Duden online
* “sexual” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Latin sexuālis.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Languedoc):(file)

### Adjective

sexual m (feminine singular sexuala, masculine plural sexuals, feminine plural sexualas)
* sexual

#### Derived terms

* sexualitat

#### Related terms

* sèxe

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sexuālis. By surface analysis, sexo +‎ -ual.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /sek.suˈaw/ [sek.sʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /sekˈswaw/ [sekˈswaʊ̯], /se.ki.suˈaw/ [se.ki.sʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /se.kiˈswaw/ [se.kiˈswaʊ̯]
* (Brazil) IPA: /sek.suˈaw/ [sek.sʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /sekˈswaw/ [sekˈswaʊ̯], /se.ki.suˈaw/ [se.ki.sʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /se.kiˈswaw/ [se.kiˈswaʊ̯]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /sek.suˈaw/ [sek.sʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /sekˈswaw/ [sekˈswaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /sɛˈkswal/ [sɛˈkswaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /sɛˈkswal/ [sɛˈkswaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /sɛˈkswa.li/
* (Northeast Brazil) IPA: /sɛ.ksuˈaw/
* Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
* Hyphenation: se‧xu‧al

### Adjective

sexual m or f (plural sexuais, comparable, comparative mais sexual, superlative o mais sexual or sexualíssimo)
* sexual

#### Derived terms

* sexualidade
* sexualmente

### Further reading

* “sexual”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

From Latin sexuālis. By surface analysis, sex +‎ -ual.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [seksuˈal]

### Adjective

sexual m or n (feminine singular sexuală, masculine plural sexuali, feminine and neuter plural sexuale)
* sexual

#### Declension
### References

* sexual in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin sexuālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /seɡˈswal/ [seɣ̞ˈswal]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: se‧xual

### Adjective

sexual m or f (masculine and feminine plural sexuales)
* sexual (pertaining to the sex of an organism)
* sexual (pertaining to having sex)
* sexual (pertaining to sexual orientation or identity)
* sexual (characterized by sexual feelings or behaviors)

#### Derived terms

* acosador sexual
* acoso sexual
* acto sexual
* agresión sexual
* carácter sexual
* división sexual del trabajo
* enfermedad de transmisión sexual
* identidad sexual
* intersexual
* juguete sexual
* minoría sexual
* orientación sexual
* relación sexual
* reproducción sexual
* sexualidad
* sexualmente
* símbolo sexual
* tensión sexual
* trabajador sexual
* trabajo sexual
* transexual
* turismo sexual
* turista sexual
* vida sexual

#### Related terms

* sexo

### Further reading

* “sexual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10